CocaCola Company (The) (NYSE:KO – Get Free Report)’s stock price traded up 2.2% on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $88.04 and last traded at $87.7330. Approximately 14,513,658 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average daily volume of 16,921,084 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.82.
Trending Headlines about CocaCola
Here are the key news stories impacting CocaCola this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Potential Costa Coffee sale could improve capital allocation. Coca-Cola is reportedly revisiting a sale of Costa after its roughly $5 billion acquisition failed to deliver the expected growth. Exiting the business could allow management to refocus on its core beverage portfolio and potentially reduce exposure to a weaker-performing asset. Coca-Cola looks to sell Costa Coffee, Semafor reports
- Positive Sentiment: Long-term investment case remains supported by brand strength and operating efficiency. An analyst reiterated a buy view, citing Coca-Cola’s global brand equity, premium margins, asset-light concentrate model and bottler agreements. Emerging-market growth, particularly in Asia-Pacific, is also viewed as a potential source of future sales and market-share gains. Coca-Cola Is The Ultimate Compounder
- Positive Sentiment: Dividend reliability and earnings-growth expectations continue to attract income investors. Coca-Cola is being highlighted as a long-standing dividend compounder, while an investor case suggests earnings growth could support a share price near $100 before 2028. Its latest reported quarter also exceeded consensus earnings and revenue estimates, with full-year 2026 EPS guidance of $3.27 to $3.30. Prediction: Earnings Growth Will Push Coca-Cola Stock to $100 Before 2028
- Neutral Sentiment: Institutional buying provides a modest positive signal. Diversified Management more than doubled its KO position in the third quarter, adding 9,434 shares. The purchase is supportive, although its relatively small size is unlikely to materially affect the stock. Diversified Management acquires Coca-Cola shares
- Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains the main constraint. Commentary notes that KO trades above its historical valuation range despite strong volume growth and repeated guidance increases. Analysts have questioned whether its “safety premium” and approximately 26-times earnings multiple already reflect much of the expected improvement. Is Coca-Cola’s Safety Premium Getting Too Expensive?
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC raised their target price on shares of CocaCola from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised CocaCola from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on CocaCola from $95.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial set a $88.00 target price on shares of CocaCola in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (up from $88.00) on shares of CocaCola in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CocaCola currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.95.
CocaCola Trading Up 0.3%
The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $378.92 billion, a PE ratio of 26.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.77.
CocaCola (NYSE:KO – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.04. CocaCola had a return on equity of 39.38% and a net margin of 28.56%. The company had revenue of $13.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. CocaCola’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. CocaCola has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.300 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CocaCola Company will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current year.
CocaCola Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. CocaCola’s payout ratio is 63.66%.
Insider Transactions at CocaCola
In other CocaCola news, EVP Nancy Quan sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.39, for a total value of $4,519,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 223,330 shares in the company, valued at $20,186,798.70. This represents a 18.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Bruno Pietracci sold 111,365 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.93, for a total transaction of $10,126,419.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,761,319.45. This represents a 72.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 926,620 shares of company stock worth $83,075,714 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in shares of CocaCola by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 1,090,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,646,000 after buying an additional 32,723 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in CocaCola by 68.5% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 218,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,733,000 after buying an additional 88,690 shares during the last quarter. Moore Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in CocaCola during the 2nd quarter worth about $12,905,000. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of CocaCola by 402.3% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 163,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,052,000 after buying an additional 130,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in CocaCola by 2,091.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,414,000 after acquiring an additional 345,417 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.
About CocaCola
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a global beverage company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Its portfolio includes sparkling soft drinks, water, sports drinks, coffee, tea, juice, dairy and plant-based beverages, and other ready-to-drink products. The company’s best-known brands include Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta, Dasani, Powerade, Minute Maid, fairlife, and Georgia Coffee.
Founded in 1886, the company develops, owns, licenses, markets, and distributes beverage brands through a network of bottling partners, distributors, retailers, and food-service operators.
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